Modern firearms increasingly are being provided with battery powered accessories, such as laser sighting devices, for use in target acquisition. If a laser sighting device is attached to the firearm, it is necessary to provide a power supply, typically in the form of a battery, for operating the laser in the sighting device. Generally, the laser sight and the battery are located in a common housing, which then is attached to the barrel of the firearm.
When a laser sighting device is used with a relatively small, lightweight firearm, such as a handgun, the laser sighting device, to be most effective, needs to be located as near as possible adjacent the end of the barrel, in front of the trigger guard. This location ensures that the spot of light projected by the laser sighting device is located as close as possible to the trajectory of a bullet emerging from the barrel when the gun is fired. This permits rapid and accurate sighting of the handgun, without requiring the use of optical sights by the user of the handgun. In addition, this location ensures that the laser will provide accurate placement of shots over a longer range than for a laser located away from the barrel.
It also is necessary to provide an "on/off" switch for operating the laser sighting device at times only when the firearm is directed toward a target and is ready to fire. If a simple on/off switch is provided in a separate location on the housing for the laser, the user of the firearm may forget to turn the laser off after use of the firearm has been completed, thereby discharging the battery. In addition, if the firearm is being operated under emergency conditions, the extra step necessary to turn on the laser sighting device may be forgotten, or there may not be sufficient time to energize the laser. If the necessity of employing separate or additional steps to activate or turn on the laser results in too much delay, the effectiveness of the laser sighting device may be lost when it inadvertently is not turned on, or if the operator of the firearm neglects to turn on the laser sighting device.
Most handguns and many rifles employ a cartridge magazine for holding several cartridges and feeding those cartridges to the firing chamber of the handgun or rifle in an automatic or semi-automatic manner. When used with handguns, the conventional cartridge magazines fit into the frame of the handgrip of the handgun, located behind the trigger. For rifles, the magazine typically is located in a separate magazine ahead of the trigger.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an power supply for a laser sighting device, or other accessory on a firearm, which is located in the bottom of the cartridge magazine separate from the laser sighting device itself, and which has an on/off switch location automatically engaged by the hand of the user when the firearm is in use.